Axis Bank: After Hours: Axis Bank bleeds; Reliance scales a new high

NEW DELHI: Domestic equity benchmarks ended Wednesday’s session in the negative zone. But Samvat 2073 –the traditional accounting year that ended on Wednesday – saw the Nifty notch up 18 per cent and the Sensex 17 per cent.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed for Diwali – the festival of lights – at 32,584, down 25 points, with RIL (up 4.52 per cent) being the top gainer and Axis Bank (down 9.52 per cent) the biggest loser. The 30-share pack, which opened at 32,518 against the previous close of 32,609, hit an intraday high and low of 32,670 and 32,462, respectively.

The broader Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) settled at 10,211, down 24 points, with 14 of the 50 constituents ending in the green.

Here’s a look at Wednesday’s top newsmakers on Dalal Street:

Solid debut of MAS FinancialShares of MAS Financial Services made a strong market debut, as the scrip got listed at Rs 660 on BSE, a 43.79 per cent premium to the issue price of Rs 459. The Rs 460 crore IPO, which was sold between October 8 and October 10, had been lapped up by investors and had got fully subscribed on Day 1 itself. Overall, it was subscribed 128 times. The stock closed the day’s trade at Rs 654.75 apiece, up 42.65 per cent from issue price.

RIL stock hits record highShares of Reliance Industries advanced over 4 per cent to hit a fresh record high of Rs 915.55 after the company submitted a $1.4 billion plan to produce 7 million cubic metres a day of natural gas from KG-D6 deep-sea fields in the Bay of Bengal. For the quarter ended September 30, 2017, RIL reported total revenue at 71,761 crore and net profit stood at 8,265 crore. The scrip of the company closed at Rs 913.75 apiece, up 4.52 per cent on BSE.

Axis Bank hits 9-month lowShares of Axis Bank hit nine-month low after it reported further worsening of asset quality for the quarter ended September 30, 2017. The lender’s September quarter earnings rose 35 per cent boosted by a low base in the previous year and a jump in treasury profits. But its corporate lending continued to suffer with rising bad loans, and its retail segment profitability was dented with a fall in pre-tax profit. Shares of the company closed at Rs 464 apiece, down 9.52 per cent.

Most active stocksShares of Axis Bank (down 9 per cent), JP Associates (down 2 per cent) and ICICI Bank (down 4 per cent) were the most active stocks in terms of value while those of RIL (up 4.59 per cent), Dewan Housing (up 2 per cent) and SBI (down 3 per cent) were most active in value terms.

Spurt in open interestShares of NIIT Technologies witnessed the biggest spike in open interest at 46.15 per cent, followed by Axis Bank (44.34 per cent) and Torrent Pharma (37.80 per cent).

The sole gainerThe Nifty FMCG index emerged the only gainer on NSE, closing at 25,684, up 63 points or 0.25 per cent. Out of the 15 components on the index, six ended in the green. Britannia (up 2 per cent), Colgate-Palmolive (up 1.36 per cent) and United Bank (up 1 per cent) were the major contributors to the surge.